Thomas Pringle TD
Home / Press Releases / Homelessness in Donegal will continue to rise under Fine Gael – Pringle TD

Homelessness in Donegal will continue to rise under Fine Gael – Pringle TD

Thomas Journal ie

October 24th, 2017

*

“As long as the Government fails to view housing as a fundamental right, homelessness figures will continue to rise in Donegal” says Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle.

“Official homelessness figures obscure the true extent of hidden homelessness in Donegal” continues Pringle. “We don’t see those sleeping on friends’ sofas, or tenants about to be evicted by landlords seeking higher rents or those families facing eviction from banks as they struggle with their mortgage repayments.”

“It’s a crisis that was caused by Government inaction, not by accident and we need to realise this before the problem becomes a permanent feature in our society” says Deputy Pringle.

“This Thursday I’ll be co-hosting the ‘Housing & Homelessness: Donegal’s Hidden Problem’ Conference which will include speakers Peter McVerry of McVerry Trust, David Hall Co-founder of iCare Housing and Declan Dunne of Respond! Housing. Contributions will seek to acknowledge and reflect the reasons behind the unfolding of one of Ireland’s worst crisis and to understand the extent that it is affecting people in Donegal”.

“Decades of disastrous policies by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have meant private sector interests are protected at the cost to ordinary people in society. This is why we have never seen, and have yet to see a real change in the Government’s approach to housing that includes greater protection of tenants and their rights and a national social housing strategy”.

“For that reason we should only accept a Government willing to view housing as a fundamental right so that the interests of ordinary people are protected over private sector interests. I have twice introduced legislation to have the right to housing and other fundamental rights like education and health enshrined in the constitution but both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have twice voted down such an idea. Over 80 constitutions around the world have enshrined the right to housing to some degree recognising that the basic needs of people should remain at the heart of governance”.

“All this and more will be explored in depth at the Conference held this Thursday at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Letterkenny. All are welcome to attend and I look forward to the various contributions to the discussion on the night” concludes Pringle.

[Jpeg attached]

ENDS

Be Sociable, Share!